AMHERST, Mass.—The Amherst College Symphony Orchestra and Choral Society join forces in their annual collaboration to present, for the first time in the college’s history, the massive Second Symphony in C minor, the “Resurrection,” by Gustav Mahler, at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 5, in Buckley Recital Hall in the Arms Music Center at Amherst College.

Approximately 180 musicians will perform the five-movement, 85-minute work with text by Friedrich Klopstock and Mahler himself. Long interpreted as addressing abstract eschatological questions and the meaning of existence itself, Mahler’s symphony traces a progression from apocalypse to redemption and has both stunned and moved audiences since its premiere in 1896.

Stephanie Dawn Johnson, soprano, and Kimberly Gratland James, mezzo-soprano, familiar to Amherst audiences from their previous performances of the Beethoven Ninth and the Verdi Requiem, return as soloists. The performance will be conducted by Mark Lane Swanson, with assistance from Rob Lane ’05, and the Choral Society has been prepared by Mallorie Chernin and Rachel Dunham ’05.

Tickets for the event are $5, with free admission for Amherst College students. There will be reserved seating only, and advance reservations by writing AmherstMahler@gmail.com are strongly recommended.